5. Engage in Professional Growth and Leadership
Teachers continuously improve their professional practice, model lifelong learning, and exhibit leadership in their school and professional community by promoting and demonstrating the effective use of digital tools and resources.

Teachers:

a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
b. exhibit leadership by demonstrating a vision of technology infusion, participating in shared decision making and community
building, and developing the leadership and technology skills of othersc. evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning
d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community


Emily Lundin
NETS-T 5.c: Evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning.
I have to admit, I struggle to find the time to learn new ways of using technology in the classroom. However, this class has allowed me to evaluate and reflect on my professional practices and research some of the new forms of technology. I have been able to think of ways to incorporate every type of technology that we have discussed so far. In my health class, students have to create a poster all about themselves. When learning about Audacity and Windows Movie Maker, I found the perfect way to use this form of technology. Students could create a movie with sounds, pictures, music, etc about themselves and present it to the class. This would be a great way to support student learning and give kids the opportunity to reflect and evaluate their current levels of technology usage.

Kelsi Countryman 5b:
I think by demonstrating at a faculty meeting the different research techniques presented in the class as a building we could expect students to know the proper ways to research and find information they are looking for. Teachers will also have a better idea of how to direct student learning and research techniques.

Mike Jacobs
NETS-T 5
- Teachers can participate in learning communities that collaborte with other teachers and people in different communties that can help the development of ideas for various teachers in thier classrooms. This will allow teachers to work with each other, share ideas, collabortate outside of thier own schools in order to help thier school and classroom in a small way. Teachers can share what works and what doesnt in thier classroom and maybe why. Teachers can use goolge groups, blackboard or even wiki pages for thier classrooms which would teach kids about technology as well as have a great way for the class to work together to accomplish a common task. This would also help reduce the amount of paper used in the class. I think that in the near future I will use this technology in my own classroom to see how effecitive it can be.

Betsy Smith-

NETS-T 5.c:evaluate and reflect on current research and professional practice on a regular basis to make effective use of existing and emerging digital tools and resources in support of student learning

When we first began learning about google docs. I really struggled to see how I would be able to utilize this technology in my first grade classroom. However, as we learned more and I read the NETS-T more acutely I quickly saw many more uses for the program. The first thing that came to my mind, was NETS-T number 5 which states that teachers should engage in professional growth and leadership. Upon reading this statement I reflected upon my own professional growth. I have been fortunate and attended several PG conferences recently and would love to be able to share what I learned with my grade level collegues, but have never been able to fit it in our schedules. Setting up google group and using it to communicate with my grade level peers across the district. It would allow us the opportunity to grow as professionals and help us as a team become more effective, and possibly provide more opportunities for our students.





Ivette Dubiel - I think that Google Documents would be an excellent opportunity for carrying out NETS-T Standards #5: Facilitate and Inspire Student Learning and Community, (b) "engage students in exploring real-world issues and solving authentic problems using digital tools and resources." I can use Google Documents and invite my students to collaborate with me to discuss learning issues and promote critical thinking. This resource will clearly engage students to interact and witness for themselves how technology can be used for endless reasons. An example that comes to mind on how I can do this with my 5th grade class to is to post a question on inquiry in attempt to initiate discussion about a Social Studies topic. It would also be great to answer and discussion questions about various classroom projects.

Kelsi
I believe the blog would be a great opportunity for school communitites to create open communication lines between a staff. Many topics in schools require discussion, the issue is many times teachers do not have an opportunity to have the type of discussion needed for the topic. A blog would give teachers the opportunity to say what they want on their own time. I think this would be an appropriate way for a staff to communicate to make changes in a school setting.

Brody Hamel NETS-T 5a. In Physical Education class we could implement software that allows teachers to track students progress on fitness testing throughout their years in the school. The software could graph their progress, compare the data to state standards, etc.... Our school currently using a "fitness gram software" that has this function. I'm not sure if google has anything with these capabilities.

Ryan Schrader
NETS-T 5C: I think as a whole school or distirct we could have a wiki or blog where colleges could communicate with other staff members about conferences they attended, clinics that they have gone too, or even classes that they have taken. This would be a great chance to communicate ideas about things that other teachers are learning and can share new ideas with the fellow teachers in the district. This would also be a great tool to be able to use during the summer because you would get an opportunity to hear some new ideas while you are on break. This would be a cool tool to use during the summer months to talk and hear others opinions on new things that they have learned. All of this would help us come up with new ideas which in return will hopefully help our teaching effectiveness for our students.

Michael Gecan NETS-T 5a: Google Documents also has a presentation application that could be used by teachers to share lesson plans. This would open up a whole new world of collaboration between teachers in the same district or even over seas if you so choose.

Jessica Brown
NETS- T 5a- By using Google Documents we could encourage children to communicate with other children about the same topics from other schools. They could get imput from other students and also hear what they are learning about on the same subject. All teachers teach differenly and all students learn differently, this would be a great way for teachers to account that their students are collaboratively learning and for students to learn from another teachers way of teaching.

Nicci Ciesla
#3b--The trend lately has been to add more tasks to the already extensive list of tasks that teachers must complete; therefore, teacher collaboration can be difficult to maintain. We're oftentimes simply too busy to meet with another teacher (or other teachers) to be able to collaborate. With the use of shared google documents and wiki's, we can collaborate at our own convenience in a continued manner. By making this kind of communication available and simple to use, teachers can easily help one another and work with one another consistently. In addition, our own use of the technology serves as a great example for our students. They will be able to see that this type of communication is more than just simply entertainment; it can be used in a serious, academic fashion.

Jackie Bargmann
NETS-T 5
As teachers, we are constantly absorbing new information that will help us become better educators. However, it should not stop with information related to the subject you teach. Teachers need to stay current with the new forms of technology that can enhance their curriculum. Students are very interested in technology- they often know more than I do. It is my job, as their educator, to know how to use the most up-to-date forms of technology in order to keep learning engaging and realistic. I plan to use Wikispaces with my students in the future to correspond regularly with my students. I have used it in the past with another school, but I haven't done much with it since. I know that the kids would enjoy that type of communication.

NETS-T5 a.
Teachers can learn from one another through a Wiki or teacher Blog that can create a local or even a global learning community. Ideas, thoughts, and concerns could be shared through this type of network and allow teachers to share with one another.
[P.Haddock]

Thea Roessler
NETS-T5a - Participate in local and global learning communities
Teachers have a reputation for being the best of "thieves." We borrow, give, take, & adapt what others have done before us in order to improve our classrooms & students' learning. Especially for teachers in smaller schools and programs, or perhaps for larger districts as well, keeping teachers in touch with new ideas and opportunities to share is a challenge. MovieMaker could be used to film lesson ideas and student projects in order to share them online with colleagues. Certainly privacy issues would have to be considered if students are in the videos and they are posted online. Posting the videos, however, would allow colleagues to communicate and bounce ideas in the times between PD days and annual professional conferences.

Carri Oslager
5d- Teachers could put together recruiting clips via movie maker for elective courses. Students hear from "word of mouth" about courses, but they could actually view a course in action. The movie clips could be a series of ideas that teachers put forth about their classes, or a skit they put forth for new students. Current students could also be used to provide peer information that allows for a greater understanding of what the class is about.

Katy Ruppel
5.a. Using programs that can modify music would be very useful during a dance unit. The ability to cut and edit would help to broaden the types of dances taught. Incorporating video in with the music could also help in creating new opportunities for the use of otherwise unknown curriculum. With the ability to use outside sources for instruction and music for a dance unit, teachers could reach out and have more diversity throughout the unit.

Yesenia Sanchez
NETS-T5a. participate in local and global learning communities to explore creative applications of technology to improve student learning
Audacity or MovieMaker could be used to share ideas with other teachers. Its a great way of sharing lessons with colleagues. It could also be a way of allowing other teachers to witness a great lesson on a professional development day. It can also be used to post the videos of the lesson online, where students could access it after school, should they need help.

Melissa Hinshaw
5d. contribute to the effectiveness, vitality, and self-renewal of the teaching profession and of their school and community.
This standard could be met by teachers such as ourselves, who are receiving up to the minute technology classes, sharing and modeling use of such tools as audio and digital movie technology. Many teachers would love to use these media, but are not knowledegable enough and may need some guidance in how to incorporate it into current technology.

Brandon Daub
5d.
This standard could be met by contributing to a shared knowledge base like this one to share ideas, workshops, and things learned at conventions that we all go to too grow as individuals. This way we can all help each other branch out and try new things.